Chapter 32
Chu Yunhan froze. The chilling wind blowing between the two of them cooled him down.
He watched as the man approached slowly and finally stopped before him, raising a hand to the collar of his coat. Chu Yunhan wanted to avoid it, but his eyes swept across the neatly standing crowd not far away just when his body was about to lean back, and he stopped abruptly, letting the man straighten the collar of his crooked coat.
At this moment, Chu Yichen, who appeared in the cemetery, was the head of the family and his cousin. His intimate gesture had an element of putting on an act.
He wanted to let those subordinates, partners, friends, enemies, and other people who came here for various reasons to see clearly – the elder brother and the younger brother of the Chu family were on friendly terms and respected each other, there was no animosity between them. The rumors of the brothers falling out with each other were complete nonsense.
They had not met in such a public place for a long time in their real identities. Chu Yunhan’s gaze was so low, he practically didn’t dare to look at the other party. He asked softly, “When did you arrive?”
“Starting from ‘I hate myself’,” the man replied in a faint voice.
He felt somewhat suffocated and remained silent, his hands hanging loose alongside his body.
Chu Yichen put down the flowers and stood in front of the stone tablet for a long time, before finally saying one sentence, “I will take care of him, please rest assured.”
As if Chu Yunhan’s heart had suddenly been struck, it jumped uncontrollably, his heartbeat chaotic and irregular. A layer of blush spread on his face and the fingernails sank into the skin, hurting his palms.
“Let’s go,” the man said as he walked past him.
He glanced at the tombstone again, pursed his lips, and walked out, following the other party.
Chu Yichen walked ahead. His slightly wide coat wrapped around his pliable body, making him look long and tall. The wind carried that person’s scent over. The light and familiar fragrance of his aftershave swept over the tip of Chu Yunhan’s nose, reminding him of those absurd and indulgent nights, of the way that man was gasping for breath pressed against his body, and of that first sticky intimate entanglement between the two of them.
Inexplicable heat arose from the depths of his body, slowly making his blood boil. In his excited state he didn’t notice that the person in front had stopped and directly bumped into his back. Those oppressive black eyes looked at him as if seeing through him, his face grew even hotter, and he whispered, “…I’m sorry.”
“Where are you going?” Chu Yichen asked.
“To the company, there’s this project… a negotiation meeting.”
Just as the other party was about to speak, he heard a “bang”, and a bodyguard in front of him fell heavily at his feet.
Everything happened without warning.
Chu Yunhan was hugged tightly and pulled down, his head knocked on the ground before he realized it was a gunshot. Chu Yichen pressed him firmly under his body, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, “Don’t move!” Suddenly, someone screamed, and everyone seemed to start moving at the same time. The bodyguards gathered around them, shielding them. He heard the sound of bodies being hit, saw people falling one after another, and felt Bai Yang, who stood in front of him to protect him, pushing him back.
In the chaos, a car barged through the fence of the cemetery and rushed in. Bai Xiao shouted, “Young Master, come!” Chu Yichen pulled Chu Yunhan up, stuffed him into the back seat, slammed the door, and ordered, “Take him away!”
“Young Master!” Bai Xiao’s expression was stern and his voice trembled.
“Take him away and protect him!” The man said in a deep voice, “This is an order!” He pulled out the gun from his waist, gazed intently at Chu Yunhan, who was dumbfounded, and without saying anything, turned around and followed after the bodyguards who quickly retreated into the building not far away.
Bai Xiao’s eyes turned blood red. He gritted his teeth, stepped heavily on the accelerator, and the car sped away.
Chu Yunhan’s trembling “Wait…” was drowned in the intensive gunfire. The bullets hit the car doors and windows with a “bang” sound. The bulletproof glass around him was cracked like a spider web. Trying to fight the fear, his whole body was shaking. “Wait…Bai Xiao…Wait…” His head was blank, as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar naked, his teeth were chattering and every word was trembling.
“Wait for what? What do you still want to wait for? He stayed there to attract the firepower and save your life!” The gunshot wound on the left arm of the man driving the car was bleeding, and there was grief in his voice as he shouted fiercely, “He has done everything he can do for you and everything he can’t do! Do you f*cking know that?!”
Chu Yunhan tightly grasped the handle on the car door. His heart felt as if it was being squeezed by someone, full of dull pain and sorrow, and even breathing was difficult. The image of Chu Yichen, giving him that last look, was constantly before his eyes.
The deep and gloomy black eyes looked reluctant, but also full of unshakable determination.
“He wants you to live.”
Chu Yunhan shook Bai Xiao’s shoulder firmly with a trembling hand, and said, “Go back…” Seeing that the other party did not respond and continued driving straight forward, he finally shouted furiously, “Go back! I want to go back!”
The lips of the man with a pale complexion stretched into a sneer. “What’s the point of you going back?”
This sentence was like a stick, hitting him on the forehead. It made him halt in his tracks for a long time, before falling back to the back seat in a daze.
Yes, what’s the point?
When it’s all said and done…. What’s the point?
He buried his face in his hands so hard that his knuckles turned white and left deep imprints on his face. There were warm wet stains on his palms and cheeks. One couldn’t tell the sweat from the tears and the blood from the dirt.
The feeling of powerlessness from back then when his father left them swept over him again, this time, even more intense and overwhelming. He curled up in the back seat trembling, like a desperate animal, wailing silently.
Don’t die…
You can’t die…
Chu Yichen…please…
He prayed again and again in his heart. He, who had never believed in anything, suddenly wished there really were gods in this world who would hear his prayers and protect that person.
Chu Yichen stayed in the cemetery, attracting most of the gunfire. Their car was chased for a while, but soon there were no more shots. After entering the city, Bai Xiao’s expression remained solemn. He looked in the rearview mirror, frowned, and stepped on the accelerator. The car that had reached one hundred and thirty made a sharp turn, nearly skidding off, and turned around.
Having been almost thrown off, Chu Yunhan kept clutching to the door handle and asked anxiously, “Someone is following us?”
“Yeah.” Bai Xiao took out a gun from under the seat and threw it to him while driving. “If I die later, run away. If you can’t run away, you can only admit defeat.”
His heart pounding, he loaded the gun, took a deep breath, and quickly recalled the shooting technique he had learned in the past. Control your breathing, aim at three points and one line and pull the trigger…
At this moment, Bai Xiao suddenly hit the brakes and the car drifted for a long time, leaving burned rubber tire tracks on the road. Their car was blocked. In the narrow alley, cars were blocking them both from the front and from the back. When Bai Xiao saw this, his lips curled up in a gloomy expression, and he took out his gun with an evil smile. “Young Master Yun, it seems that we’ll die here today.” Every word he said carried fierce killing intent.
Chu Yunhan forced himself to remain calm, suppressed the trembling of his hands, gritted his teeth, opened the car door, and got out.
Bai Xiao was shocked. “What are you doing?!”
He stood by the car and shouted to the people on the other side of the alley, “I am Chu Yunhan. So bent on killing me, won’t you let me see who you are before I die?”
The other party was silent for a while, then someone came forward and whispered, “Long time no see.”
Chu Yunhan’s eyes widened. He looked at the other person in disbelief and said, “Sheng Wu…”
The man looked at him and said, “This situation is really not what I wanted to see. Yunhan, please forgive me, I had no other choice.”
“… Why? Aren’t both families working together? Why on earth?!” His back tensed tightly, he clenched his fists, and his eyes seemed to emit flames.
“Your cousin’s methods are very clever. Gradually reducing our power, replacing us, undermining Mr. Shen’s trust in us. He planned to trick us into expanding our cooperation, while in fact cutting off our resources after finding out our strength. And now he helped Shen Mo, a mere figurehead, deprive us of Mr. Shen’s privileges, leaving us completely helpless. We were forced into the current situation. Shouldn’t we demand justice?”
Chu Yunhan looked at the other party in shock, unable to say anything.
“If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn’t have made it this far.” There was a soft gleam in Sheng Ming’s eyes. “You have betrayed Chu Yichen. Your life in the Chu family won’t be good. Last time I failed to take you away, and I have been deeply regretting it ever since. Today, I am here to take you away.”
“……What?”
“Sheng Guang took two hundred people to the cemetery, and Third Brother Sheng Wei is bringing in two thousand people from outside the city. The outcome is already clear. Chu Yichen will not be able to escape today. With his death, the Chu family will collapse. Rather than being involved in this, it would be better to leave with me and go to J City to live happily. I will be with you all my life.”
He stood there, his bangs obscuring his eyes, his shoulder blades trembling slightly, and inquired, “What if I refuse?”
Sheng Ming frowned, “I don’t want to use force against you.”
Chu Yunhan looked up and smiled at the man standing ten meters away.
It was a kind of smile with three parts tenderness, three parts coldness, three parts recklessness and unruliness, and one part charm that was so breathtaking one couldn’t look away. There was a hint of provokation, contempt and cold arrogance in it. The faint smile spread to the corners of the eyes and eyebrows, making the already handsome face exude a unique attraction, dangerous and deadly.
Sheng Wu stared at him in a daze, motionless.
So beautiful. Like the unfathomable white deer in the woods, that kept its distance, impossible to catch. That kind of smile aroused a man’s unrestrained desire to conquer and possess.
However, in the next second, the proud deer walked towards the edge of the cliff.
Chu Yunhan pressed the cold muzzle against his temple and said, “I give you two choices. Let me go or kill me.”
Translator: Taalia
